| Project-Shadow |
06-21-2004 09:07 AM |
England and Croatia both entertain realistic thoughts of reaching the quarter-finals ahead of their UEFA EURO 2004? encounter at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on Monday.
Different priorities
England, buoyed by their emphatic win against Switzerland, know that a draw will guarantee them a place in the quarter-finals, while Croatia, their own confidence on a high after a draw with defending champions France that could easily have been a win, need a victory to advance.
Croatia distractions
Croatia's preparations have hardly been ideal with the distractions of the failed drugs test of Ivica Olic, who subsequently escaped punishment after UEFA's control and disciplinary body ruled that he did not commit any fault, and the reported criticism of Baric from forward Ivan Klasnic.
Klasnic role
The Croatian camp subsequently insisted that the young SV Werder Bremen player's comments had been misinterpreted and Klasnic, who has yet to feature at EURO 2004? despite playing a key role in Bremen's German league and cup double, looks set to be called into action from the substitutes' bench should Croatia need a late goal against England.
?ivkovic return
Otherwise, Baric is expected to stick with the team that impressed against France, with the return of captain Boris ?ivkovic from injury in place of Nenad Bjelica the only change to the starting eleven. ?ivkovic's return from a knee injury into the centre of defence will see Igor Tudor move forward into midfield.
Pr?o praise
Dado Pr?o and Tomislav ?okota will resume in attack and Pr?o has been identified as a key player by both sides after his goal and overall display against France. Baric said: "His level of responsibility in the team is like Zinedine Zidane's with France."
Terry tribute
Meanwhile, England's Chelsea FC pair John Terry and Frank Lampard, who came up against Pr?o when he starred for AS Monaco FC in their UEFA Champions League victory against the London side, both voiced their concerns. Terry said: "He's a fantastic player. He scored a great goal the other night and he's always going to be a threat. Hopefully, having played against him a couple of times, I've learned from that and, hopefully, if I play, I can stop him."
Previous meetings
Lampard concurred, saying: "He's big, powerful, scores goals and has had a great season. I think any defender who plays against him will know they've had a game. He will be a big threat." Lampard scored his first England goal in a 3-1 win when the sides last met in August 2003. The teams' only other previous meeting came in 1996 when they drew 0-0 at Wembley.
Rooney risk
Such a scoreline seems unlikely in Lisbon given the form of Pr?o and the competition's outstanding young player, England's Wayne Rooney, who scored twice in the win against Switzerland. In that game, Rooney became the youngest player ever to score in a UEFA European Championship match but also picked up a booking.
Same side
However, England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson will resist the temptation to rest Rooney in case he picks up another yellow card that would rule him out of any quarter-final match. Eriksson said: "As a manager, I can't think about leaving him out. He has to play against Croatia and that's it." So Eriksson seems certain to field the same team that started again Switzerland, although reserve midfield players Nicky Butt and Owen Hargreaves are both ruled out through injury.
Croatia (probable): Butina; ?imic, Robert Kovac, ?ivkovic, ?imunic; Rosso, Tudor, Niko Kovac, Rapaic; ?okota, Pr?o.
England (probable): James; Gary Neville, Terry, Campbell, Ashley Cole; Scholes, Lampard, Gerrard, Beckham; Owen, Rooney.
Referee: Pierluigi Collina (ITA)
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Cmon england
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